| Genesist |
I know that natural armor bonuses do not stack in normal circumstances, but have a question about a very specific circumstance involving familiars.
Let's say for the sake of example that I have an alchemist at level 7 with a compsognathus familiar. This familiar would normally have a natural armor bonus of 5 at this point. 1 from its base, 4 from 7th level familiar bonuses. This stacks due to this line: "Natural Armor Adj.: The number noted here is in addition to the familiar's existing natural armor bonus." from the familiar information tables.
My question involves the familiar ability NA being added to the existing natural armor bonus. Is this bonus added on top of the base NA before or after effects that change NA such as a mutagen or polymorph?
If I were to give the compsognathus my mutagen (2 NA) would its NA bonus remain 5 because it keeps the highest total bonus, or increase to 6 because that base NA increases from 1, to 2, before adding on the 4 for being a 7th level familiar?
This is just an example, I'm not planning on tanking with a compsognathus.